The future of a compulsory levy on New Zealand kiwifruit exports – excluding those to Australia – will be determined over the coming month.

Growers across the country are being invited to vote in a referendum on the levy, which is currently used to fund the work of advocacy organisation New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers (NZKGI).

The last referendum on the subject took place in 2011. Since then, NZKGI claims it has used the levy to produce “significant outcomes” for kiwifruit growers, included the fight against Psa, advocacy for the single point of entry marketing structure and the coordination of the Kiwifruit Industry Strategy Project (KISP).

“It is in each individual grower’s interest to be engaged in this process. The success of their business often comes down to the advocacy that NZKGI provides them,” Brown said.

All New Zealand kiwifruit growers are entitled to vote and will be sent voting papers. A grower is considered to be the “titleholder of kiwifruit”, meaning a person that has legal and beneficial title to kiwifruit when it is supplied to an exporter.

Growers can sumbmit their vote via post or online between 24 February and 17 March.